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motto of the French Revolution, "Liberty, Equality,
Fraternity," the first two terms are mainly negative; the
chief positive value is contained in the third. Economic
individualism is strong in its emphasis on liberty and
equality, but weak in the economic basis it offers for frater-
nity. Is fair and open competition really the last and best
word of the social hope? Are we to live like the little
lobsters in the tank of a government hatchery, each wolfing
for itself, and preying, on its neighbor when the food supply
runs low?

In the first century of our era a new social organization
spread through the Roman Empire. It had a force of
cohesion so strong that it bound men of all races and social
classes into fraternity, resisted the crushing pressure of
the Roman despotism, and survived all the shocks and
changes of European society for nineteen hundred years.
One of the earliest leaders of this remarkable organization
formulated its social philosophy from the biology of the
human organism. The ideal society, he said, has an un-
limited diversity, of organs and functions, but a fundamental
unity of life, motive, and purpose; it is perfect in the
measure in which every member has the support and pro-
tection of the whole body, and in turn serves the whole in
its due place. 1 Paul's philosophy of the Christian Church
is the highest possible philosophy of human society. The
ideal society is an organism, and the christianizing of the
social order must work toward an harmonious coöperation
of all individuals for common social ends.

Fraternity needs an economic basis if it is to be made
a vigorous and substantial part of social life. In turn
fraternity alone offers a spiritual faith strong enough to
inspire the mass movements necessary to overthrow in-
herited privilege. Individualism has pounded the protec-
tive tariff for generations and not yet rooted up its worst

____________________
1 I Corinthians xii.

-366-

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Publication Information: Book Title: Christianizing the Social Order. Contributors: Walter Rauschenbusch - author. Publisher: Macmillan. Place of Publication: New York. Publication Year: 1912. Page Number: 366.
    
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